It happened suddenly, like all misfortune is want to do.
It had been while I was walking at a leisurely pace through the forest, carrying Elspeth the Alolan Vulpix on my shoulder. I'm still not sure if that was the best name for her, but she chose it, so…
Back to the misfortune. She had yipped to me, grabbing my attention. I had been walking under the canopy of the forest trees when she wanted an apple. The only one visible to both her and myself was a single, red, crisp fruit, and higher than either of us could reach by ourselves. The adjoining branch too thin for Robin to climb along.
Despite my misgivings about using precious battery life on frivolous things, she convinced me with those precious eyes. I definitely did not fold under the slightest pressure. I extended my Octillery Arms and reached for the apple.
That's when it all fell apart…
Right as the arm was about to pluck the apple from the stem, a deluge of error messages assaulted my brain through the neural interface. To Elspeth's dismay, the claw snapped around the apple, turning it to apple sauce, then shaking vigorously and collapsing to the ground.
Conversely, the other arms went crazy. Another two went limb. One started flailing around, one of three tips extended in knife mode. Three of them just started a game of three-dimensional snake in the air, creating a veritable gordian knot.
Then the last one shot through… Let's see… One, two, three… Okay, the last arm impaled four trees, sending wood shards flying everywhere.
Meanwhile, Elspeth went through a range of emotions. First, she was sad. Presumably because her apple got sent to the past tense. Then, she was as confused as I was over the arms fanned out of my back going wile. And finally, terror…at the piercing job my arm gave the local forestry.
Anyway, it was at that point that I thought that I should probably set up camp for the day, despite sundown not happening for another five hours, to perform some diagnostics on the arms. So, into the woods off the road I went!
And now I sit on a tree stump—one cut by someone else, not me—carefully undoing the hundreds of metal fasteners like bolts and screws holding the arms together after issuing a 'Damn it! Shut down!' command to the arms, forcibly stopping all processes. I released the other three pokémon to comfort the shellshocked Vulpix, but she's still staring off into space.
I throw down my tools into my lap and release a heavy sigh. "Okay. Elspeth. You're wondering why my arms have so much power behind them." Her eyes move the slightest towards me, so that's as good an answer as any. "Well, really, it's a combination of ego and protection. There's this inventor, Clemont, and he makes some pretty good inventions. However, out of his hundreds, many of them end in explosions, and he's lauded for his failures. I wanted to upstage him by making something that would last."
I gesture to the metal spaghetti sprawled around camp. "Lot of good that did me." Picking up a flathead screwdriver, I turn back to my work. "Another thing is my safety. I put off the question of becoming a trainer for the longest time because…because… Well, I'm not really sure why… But I knew that if I had an entire team in the Pokémon Center, then I would be a walking target otherwise. These arms were meant to be a deterrent."
I nod to the side a little. "One would have to admit, though, that they held up pretty well. Took a few direct hits from a Garchomp's Hyper Beam." I peer at the burnt circuitry. "I thought that I had repaired everything after that event, but evidently not."
With some pliers, I carefully pry the control module from its socket. I put on some glasses with adjustable magnifying lenses, looking closely at the scorch marks. "Some systems failed, and the AI in charge of each arm decided to keep things going by placing the failing functions on other systems. Works pretty well, since I put a few redundant systems in place, until a certain threshold is reached where every system continues failing, and failing, and failing."
I set the chip down in a plastic container. "It's evident that I need to upgrade the existing parts for these arms. In the process, I can work on the other upgrades I wished to implement. I can probably work on my other projects, too. Some of the things I want to do though just aren't feasible with our current understanding of science… Simply elementary."
I forcefully shove the thousand-dollar paperweight off my lap and walk over to the slowly recovering Vulpix.
"Vul?" She tilts her head as I pick her up and hold her eye level with me.
"As someone once said, 'Elementary means that very little is required to know ahead of time in order to understand it, except to have an infinite amount of intelligence.' I could do with an infinite amount of intelligence right about now."
Setting Elspeth down, I walk back to the stump to sit on and pull out my notebook. "First, have any of you ever heard of Rubber Duck…lett theory?"
"Dra!" That's…a no? I think?
"It's this thing where I just talk out loud to something that resembles a face to work out my problems. Typically, talking helps people realize mistakes, so if you four could just periodically respond, I would appreciate it."
"Bee?"
"Good enough." I jot down the first thing in the notebook. "I'm going to restrict every function in the arms except weight support. These things quite literally weigh a ton when unpowered, and I will not be able to lug them to a city if they can't carry their own weight."
"Pix!"
"Mmhmm. Yeah, I'll have to see if the next city has an electronics store. All the chips were custom made, but I could fix them if I had a workshop. I could, in the meantime, rip apart a bunch of electronics to make replacements."
Hazel just grumbles or something.
"I'll also need to check my e-mails…for a thing. I could also look into the Reflection Cave quartz. I heard that it was slightly different from normal quartz, but there was nothing of note to be found. I highly doubt it. If I play it right, it shouldn't be too expensive to buy some samples."
"…Vulpix."
"I could also work on upgrading the arms themselves. They currently have a titanium-tungsten alloy for the outer shell. I could perhaps thin out the shell and replace it the empty space with a lattice of carbon fiber. I wonder…if I could…create a liquid crystal…Hmm… No, I need to analyze the quartz first before I get ahead of myself."
"…" I look up, waiting for the response.
"Ooof!" 40 pounds of steel roll into my stomach, knocking me to the forest floor. "Alright, Hazel. Enough thinking for one day."
Alright! I'm back in action! Feeling...pretty okay. Did throw up earlier, but I think that was the six tacos and gallon of chocolate milk.
Contemplating making a Discord since I'm prone to bouts of inactivity. Maybe.
Resisted the urge to make yet another story that I know would be put off and am instead ripping parts from the excerpt I wrote in the notes on my phone to be put into my already active stories.
Thanks for reading!
Climbing out of my tent, I pause. I was about to activate my suit's arms and charge to the nearest town, but something…worrying has captured my attention.
Right out of the corner of my eye… The stump upon which I worked relentlessly yesterday has mysteriously disappeared. Or…Well, it's not really a mystery. There's only about three pokémon it could be. One a pumpkin, one would mean that I'm already a dead woman walking, and the last has some connotations about the safety of these woods.
Luckily, Trevenant aren't known for their subtlety. So, my options are to go to the nearest town and fix my arms, which I can technically do anytime as long as I'm careful. And on the other hand, I could expand my roster a little further by searching for the soul of a dead child inhabiting a tree stump.
Hmm… Should I be worried about the fact that I even have to think about this? Of course, I want the child soul!
I pull out a pokéball; a tangential thought about how they work flitting through my mind. It's…I'll come back to that one later. Child hunting time!
I refuse to reword or amend that statement.
Giving each of my pokémon a breakfast that they can eat on the go, we trek out, searching for a specter of these lost woods. Honestly speaking though, I do want to capture a Phantump because I want to—No, I need to know if they still have memories of when they were alive.
With absolutely zero clues to use, I wander. Phantump are stated to possess a tree stump after a child dies; however, nothing states this has to be a human child. Some other entries state it is caused by a child becoming lost, but this usually would lead to the demise of a child.
Now, what happens if an adult dies in a forest? Or, what constitutes a child in pokémon terms? We say child in the pokédex made by humans, but that's simply because, sadly, the majority of people that have died in the forests in the past were children. Especially before they set 18 to be the minimum age for trainers; it used to be much, much lower.
And, for obvious reasons, it's not like we can legally send groups of people of differing ages into the forest to wander and die. I'd bet money on one of those criminal syndicate teams having at least one curious researcher who would do such a thing.
Oh! What a surprise! Figy berries! At least, I'm pretty sure they are. I'm not a botanist—though I've been studying that in my free time, along with several other subjects—but I'm at least 30% sure that this is one of my beloved spicy berries.
I grab a few, rubbing one on the tip of my finger. I'll wait and see if I get a rash. Better safe than sorry. I can run away from pokémon; I can't run away from debilitating food poisoning.
Shooting a glance at my entourage of pokémon, Cecilia and Elspeth are glaring at the Figy berries like they cursed out their mothers. I guess they don't like these berries…or maybe they're poisonous… Well, everything's poisonous in large enough quantities…
Eh, whatever. I'll take them to a market another day.
*snap* …That's…abnormal. Using every bit of motor function control in my possession, I keep my body moving like normal—no frigid or erratic movements. The only visible sign I'm aware of would be the panic in my supposedly dilated pupils. None of my pokémon moved. None of them broke the branch.
The Rangers reported little to none stealth predatory pokémon in the area with the exception of Phantump and Trevenant. So…why would a branch be broken? Non-stealth? No…I'm not dead.
A mistake? Possible. Likely, to be honest. Most of them should be naturally stealthy.
*rustle* "THERE!" The tension bursts from my bosom in an authoritative shout, accompanied by the hurl of a pokéball.
Quick to react, Robin and Elspeth are poised for murder. Cecilia, arguably one of my weakest, takes to the air, well within air support distance of Hazel's Pin Missile.
I stalk forward, pushing the brush aside. The watch the shaky-shaky of the pokéball and ponder the odds of the mystery pokémon being caught. Let's see…how close the pokémon is to exhaustion, element of surprise, grade of pokéball, and the will of the pokémon itself.
…
Well, I caught them. Either I have much better motor control than I must admit, or this pokémon has a really weak will because, in all honesty, it was not the quality of the ball at all.
I gently grasp the ball; my team still ready to fight behind me. I guess it's time to meet the new recruit.
With a burst of light, energy is converted back to matter before my eyes—something that I will investigate—a small-ish pokémon is released. With such a light body, it practically floats in the eye, gazing up at me with watery, wide eyes… I think it might cry…
"…You aren't a Phantump…" I mumble, kneeling down to the timid pokémon. It almost backs away at the sight.
"You, my friend, are a Noibat." With large droplets threatening to drop, it backs away slowly, or rather, folds itself into a ball. "…Do you understand me?" Not only do I see fear within the eyes I can barely see, but I find confusion buried there as well.
Humans have been in this region long enough for the knowledge of human languages to pass down between generations of pokémon with the express purpose of interacting with humans. However, this region has two state-enforced languages, with only one being added more recently…
«Me comprenez-vous?» I ask in Kalosion. The Noibat, thankfully, stops the beginning of the shakes. «Je m'appelle Nicole. Je suis votre nouvelle dresseuse de pokémon.»
With little pattering steps, the Noibat edges closer to me. They—hold on—She will most likely have to learn the world's most common language. I'm sure I can convince one of my other pokémon to help me.
Oh well, not a Phantump, but still worthwhile. Guess I'll head to the town for now.
«Suivez-moi.»
Hahaha! Once again! I have risen from the depths of procrastination to give you all a chapter!
This one powered by NyQuil. I'll probably check back later to see if this one is coherent.
I've set several alarms on my phone to at least try to get me in the mind of writing a little each day.
Also, yes. French. I took three years of French, and I'll be damned if I don't use it. Thankfully, Kalos is based on France. I did steal Kalosion, or some varient, from somewhere, but I'm too addled to remember.
Time to think of a name for English...
Thanks for reading!
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